I've started to write my lesson plans for the first week of school and I'm starting to get a little bit less nervous. The more organized I am the better it will all be and that's what I learned during student teaching. If you have a lesson that is really organized it's probably going to go just fine; maybe not how you planned it exactly but better than it would if you just winged it!
Kind of funny fact that I discovered... I didn't technically graduate! Between the teacher who took over my student teaching seminar and Dr. Fant somehow the grades never got entered in. Awesome! So I'm 3 credits short but I called them to let them know and hopefully that gets fixed before transcripts go out or else I'll be pretty upset!
We're discovering all the joys of being homeowners, like a MOUSE that moved in with us! Ahh! Kyle wanted to set traps and kill it but I thought since we weren't going to be here for a week (we went to Wisconsin for the New Year) that it wouldn't be the best idea to leave a dead mouse sitting around. That and I just think that's mean... yeah I don't want a whole mouse family to live here but at the same time it's just a harmless little mouse. So we got these "pest removal devices" that play a very high pitched sound and it makes the mice want to leave so they run away from it (as Kyle said it got out the same way it got in... and when I ask how it got in he says the same way it got out). Since we've been home we haven't noticed any sign of him (oh and our food hasn't been eaten) so hopefully the little guy made a run for it!
Did anyone know that blinds were SOOOO expensive?!? Since the home is brand new it didn't come with any blinds and we wanted to get ones that will last and add value to the home... so we got these pretty nice ones (the cheapest of the nicer ones... they were actually on sale when we bought them) and spent about 1,000 dollars on them. But we still don't have blinds because they haven't come in yet so the construction workers across the street get quite a show when I am getting dressed and forget this fact! Haha.
We still don't have a garage door opener although we are going to buy one today... yayyy another 200$ spent at Home Depot! Oh yeah there's no Bank of America here (go figure!) or anywhere in Colorado so we have to switch our accounts over... so for now I still have over 1,000 dollars in checks to deposit!
But on a high note I LOVE MY HOUSE! It's so fun (and expensive) to decorate and just start from scratch. I will post pictures when I'm actually using my own internet, for now we're still using someone else's wireless which I know is a really bad idea. But when the people came to install our satellite and internet hookup we didn't know we had to have that all approved by our home owners association soooo yet another task that we just barely got done.
Anyways, that's the update on my life for now. Oh and I look forward to doing one of those "things I did in 2007" entries but for now this is the things I am doing in 2008 and have to do still!
Does anyone ever suddenly get this weird ringing in their ears like I am experiencing right now? It happens to me about maybe once every couple of weeks... usually when I'm on my computer and usually I think when I'm upset about something. It's really loud, like almost taking over my thoughts and it's just static. Very strange. It's kind of like waves of sound too and I feel like I have to shout inside my head to hear myself.
Anyways, the 2nd and 3rd graders had their concert tonight along with the 5th grade choir. They were AWESOME! I was really scared for the 5th grade choir because they had a dress rehearsal yesterday in the cafeteria and they were about a half step sharp... scary stuff! But we decided to take the song up from C to D and it helped SOO much! The kids had no idea we did it and it was better that way because this was their first performance as a choir and man oh man were they great! I've been working with them on diction BIG time and on breath support... and also on raising their eyebrows and it all paid off! The 2nd and 3rd grade were of course awesome but they've had their songs memorized for about 2-3 weeks now so I wasn't worried about them! I almost cried when it was over. I'm going to miss them like I can't even describe. All of the kids are so loving and sweet and I just want to scoop them up and take them to my new school with me!
Tons has happened!! Let's see... Kyle came to visit two weekends ago... this was awesome! Of course! He met me up in Colorado Springs where we looked for houses to buy and this sounds CRAZY but we found one that we liked on the first day we were looking... But you have to understand that our price range is about the lowest it can be for what we want in a house; Colorado Springs is really expensive compared to Las Cruces... so really what we found was a bargain even though it was the top of the price range we were thinking of. So we decided to jump and put down $1,000 on it and we could change our minds within 3 days no obligation at all. Well, on the third and last day we went looking after the weekend of looking... and found a better deal! This town-house has a fenced in backyard (the other didn't) a fireplace (the other didn't), was more square-feet, the floor plan was WAY better (the other was split-level with all kinds of stairs that JT could fall down without baby-gates) and it was just higher quality altogether. With the lower interest rate we were getting with the second house it turned out to be about the same price. Plus the fact that we won't be living there for the duration of our mortgage loan (30 years) so really in the end it is better to get a house that will sell for a higher price and we can possibly make a profit. So... we changed our minds and backed out of the first house we had liked... and thought about the other one for a while. We actually started driving back to Las Cruces and called our realtor from the road and decided to get that one instead! This actually gave us several days to decide because they had to mail the contract to us and what not... but after talking it over with my dad, my mom and Kyle's parents they all thought it was a great deal and a great decision. YAY!
Besides the house... while we were in Colorado Springs I had an interview with a Kindermusic studio down there. This job is not ideal because it is only part time, but it is a great option to get my foot in the door. I ended up getting that job and was really happy with that. HOWEVER! While I was there I also got an e-mail from a principal at an elementary school down there! There is an opening for a K-6 music teacher (my DREAM job!!!) in the same district as we will be living in! Crazy! So I went ahead and did the interview with the human resources people on Tuesday (the day we left) and then did a phone-interview with the principal, assistant principal and music director on Thursday of last week. YAY yay yay yay! I don't know if I got the job yet but I did my absolute best. I think I came off sounding confident, knowledgeable and full of enthusiasm and fresh ideas! The principal contacted me to "begin the hiring process"... which I don't know what that means because she made it sound like they were still deciding, and she wanted to talk to my references by phone first.... but I think that is a good sign. We'll see!!!!!!!!!!!
ALSO! We found a place for our "wedding" (technically renewing of vows) because we didn't get to have a reception or anything last time... it was all so last minute. But we found a perfect place, up in the "mountains" I guess... the mountain is like right there! And it's absolutely everything I imagined! So we set a date, July 1st and of course all of my friends on here are invited... and I'll send out invitations and everything once the time gets closer! But YAY for that also!!!!
Like I said TONS has happened and TONS to be excited about!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm also down as far as weight... I don't know exactly how many pounds because I don't have a scale but I can squeeze into some of my clothes pre-pregnancy... which is just awesome! I still have areas that don't look nearly as good but I'm trying to be good (it's soo hard working at a school because they ALWAYS want to feed you BAD food... like dough-nuts and muffins and rootbeer floats... terrible!).
Did I mention I'm now teaching every grade level... K-5... It's insane and at the end of the day I just want to sleep and not do anything, which is usually what I do! Haha... but I love it!!
We're going to Colorado 100% sure now! Ok still not 100% because we don't have orders... but as close as we can be sure!! I'm SOO excited!!!!!! I just need to try and find a job and we're looking for a condo to buy also and JT and I are going to move to Colorado in January with Kyle following us probably in February or March. Hooray!!!!!!!!
As if things couldn't get better, today I took my car in to get fixed thinking I'd have to pay the initial 500.00 deductible plus the cost of the rental car because the dude's insurance SUCKS and wasn't going to pay. WELL today... the day I took it in... his insurance called me to let me know that the check for my deductible was being mailed out TOMORROW! And if I fax in the receipt for my rental car they'll send me a check for that too!!!!!!!!!!!
I love when good things happen... and of course when 2 great things happen back to back it's just that much sweeter!!!!!!!!!
We're more sure (notice the wording on that!) that we're going to Colorado Springs in December now. More sure is still the wording because nothing is ever sure with the army... but at least Kyle is NOT going to Fort Drum and therefore not going to Iraq in February. I had a talk with Dr. Alt yesterday and she said to let her know when I find out for sure because she has contacts in Colorado Springs and she can help me get a job! I was like wow!! I feel so flattered that she thinks that much of me to actually help me find a job. Lesson to be learned: stay on her good side no matter what!
JT started kind of figuring out some of his toys. I don't know what it's called but there are these donut things that go on a ring... and today he started taking the donuts off and putting them back on! Basically, hand-eye coordination!! Yay! I was so proud of him!! He got frustrated when he couldn't figure it out, but then he was so happy when he got it! =)
I'm so happy that I actually cleaned out most of the clothes that I shouldn't/ never will wear again... especially the ones from HIGH SCHOOL... don't get me wrong, I still have plenty, but I was holding on to things that had holes in them or would never fit me again simply because of the sentimental value.
I can now WALK into my walk-in closet. What a concept!
Today was a great day at school... every lesson that I taught was successful!!
I have a lot of things to do tomorrow
My car is finally getting fixed on Monday (after 4 months of nothing being done), even though I have to pay upfront for it, I am not going to let SafeCo (the insurance company of the jerk who hit me) get away with not paying the bill though.
It's funny how society makes me feel ugly because I don't wear a size zero but it takes only one 6 year old in my class to tell me that I'm beautiful to cancel that out.
I don't feel like I'm making much sense except for in my head... so I think I'll stop now.
We found out yesterday that they will not be taking people that are E-6 or above in the unit in Albuquerque. Well... Kyle should be E-6 soon and he is promotable so they won't take him anyways. I suppose it's ok, it really was a long shot but I kind of got my hopes up just a little that it would work out. We have been looking at other options as well. There is a unit up in Colorado Springs that doesn't deploy until the fall of '08 so right now Kyle is looking into that one and it has spots open so right now it's pretty likely that we will go there. I am pretty happy with this because at least it gives us a year together and we both love Colorado; plus who knows what will be going on with the war by that point. So Kyle should be in Colorado by October or November and find a place for us to live so that when I graduate in December we can go ahead and move up there! At this point I just want to know so that we can prepare! We've been talking about going over to Germany after Kyle comes back from his next deployment. I honestly think it would be great! You can't complain too much about living in Europe so close to France, Italy, England, etc. I've heard nothing but good things from people who have been stationed over there so (there is no room right now) if that was the next place we went I'd be open to it for sure. It would definitely be out of my comfort zone and cause me to be more adventurous! Plus I'll have had some time to work over here and gain experience. Of course nothing is ever for sure for sure in the military life but I guess this is the best case scenario right now. It's really cute, JT loves Dora the Explorer, we started watching it a few days ago in the morning and I'll help him answer the questions and he thinks it's funny! Plus he likes bobbing his head to the music. =)
I hope this is really going to happen, I really really really do! So yesterday morning I thought Kyle is for sure going to Iraq sometime next year. Then he came home for lunch talking about a chance for him to go to Egypt for a year instead! I thought that sounded WAY better, given there won't be people shooting at him, he'll for sure have internet access and a phone that he can regularly use, probably not sleeping in a room with a bunch of other guys, etc. But that is not going to happen because all of the slots are filled. So now he's looking into getting re-stationed somewhere else. Ft. Bliss has an opening but they deploy in the summer of '08 for a year. Somewhere in Alaska (which we've talked about really wanting to live there) has an opening, but again... they are deploying in the summer of '08. BUT! There is an EOD company in Albuquerque at Kirkland AFB that DOESN'T deploy!! Of course it isn't exactly what Kyle does right now, and he has to apply and be selected and he doesn't know if there's an opening, blah blah blah. So I'm not getting my hopes up... but wouldn't that be GREAT?!?! I mean, it really can't get any better than that in my opinion (well it could but realistically it couldn't!). True Albuquerque isn't the greatest but as far as my career in teaching music is concerned that's probably the best place for me. Plenty of jobs, in NM so I don't have to worry about getting my teaching license anywhere else, with Kyle and JT as a family.. it would just be amazing. But I'm not getting my hopes up because every time I do that I get crushed!
But it would just be SOO amazing!
Also, I'm on a diet for the first time in my life! Yikes! I went to the doctor and my weight is quite a bit higher than I expected and also a lot higher than I want it to be. So my goal is to lose 30 lbs in the next 2 months. Realistic? I hope so? I have no idea... But I'm doing really well with it! I have this horrible addiction to chocolate (I'm serious, it's bad!) and snacking is my enemy! But I have cut carbs out of my diet for the most part and haven't had chocolate in almost 2 weeks now. I have already seen results in my tummy and thighs (which are the areas I hate the MOST!!!). I can't believe I'm doing this well with it actually... I have wanted to lose weight since about 7th grade and this is the first time I'm really committed to it. It helps that almonds are so yummy but so low in carbs! Also Kyle found this great protein shake that we both have for breakfast and it actually fills you up pretty well and is yummy! I'm proud of myself!
Everyone, look out because when you see me next I'm going to look like a different person!
Do your ears hang low? Do they wobble to and fro? Can you tie them in a knot?! Can you tie them in a bow? Can you throw them over your shoulder like a continental soldier?
Do YOUR ears hang low?
Yes... this is what I choose to do instead of working on my 303 paper.
You know you're getting to that time in finals where you really should be doing your assignments and studying or writing papers when you actually update livejournal at 3am. Or is that just me? If anyone cares to hear a swing version of I've Been Working on the Railroad I'm just now finishing writing it and it'll be stuck in my head for... hmm... THE REST OF MY LIFE!
Haha... but seriously.
Woah, ironic that I'm workin' on I've been workin' on the railroad all the live long day, ALL the live long day! Or... is that the tiredness talking? I find it interesting...
busy
jubilant
excited
giddy
content
accomplished
chipper
silly